Florida’s Office of Compassionate Use has six months to implement last year’s medical marijuana amendment. But the office seems ready to allow physicians to begin ordering the drug for newly eligible patients.
State law grants full potency cannabis only to patients with a year or less to live, but now the state constitution grants the same access to patients with a wide slate of chronic conditions. New patients, their physicians, and their dispensing organizations are stuck in a gray area until state regulators act. But this week Office of Compassionate Use Director Christian Bax tried to put them at ease.
“Enforcement actions initiated by the Florida Department of Health against patients, physicians or businesses under amendment two will focus on those acting outside the current regulatory framework created by Florida law,” Bax says.
But that existing framework is the source of much of the uncertainty. As the agency begins developing rules, officials are preparing to hold public workshops in all five of the state’s growing regions.
